The present invention relates to portable electronic devices such as cellular or mobile telephones which utilize batteries, and more particularly, relates to methods and apparatus for the management of the batteries of such portable electronic devices.
Portable electronic devices such as wireless terminal devices, also known as cellular or mobile telephones, are ubiquitous in modern society. Cellular or mobile telephones are becoming more portable and easier to use all the time, and customers (users) are now relying daily on the availability of these cellular or mobile telephones to accommodate their communication needs. These cellular telephones are typically driven by batteries of different battery storage capacities, often based on sizes and battery technologies. Therefore the challenges for these cellular telephones are to manage the battery power efficiently and to extend the battery life as long as possible both in the talk (transmit) mode and standby (idle) mode.
Many advanced wireless systems incorporate battery power management features which not only conserve battery power by minimizing mobile system processing, particularly during the standby mode, but also allow the user to gauge the remaining battery life and alert the user to the run-down of a battery with either an audible alert message or a vibration for subsequent recharge operations Either situation however, when the battery is run-down (dead), the user has no choice but to recharge the battery before usage. For many cellular telephones, the battery may last only 1 to 2 hours of talk time when used in the cellular system. As a result, the user is often left with a useless cellular telephone without any battery power in cases of emergency situations when such a cellular telephone is needed most.
Therefore, there is a strong need for an inexpensive, more effective and efficient avenue to ensure that a portable electronic device such as a cellular telephone is always available for use in cases of emergency, and that the user always has access to such a cellular telephone in cases of emergency regardless of the conditions of its battery.